What do you get when you cross an Olympic bronze medal winner in rowing (Dougie’s father - Doug) with a bronze medal winner in women’s basketball (Dougie’s mother - Lynne) at the World’s - two pretty good hockey players, Dougie’s older brother Freddy, a fifth round pick last year by San Jose, and Dougie, a likely top ten in this year’s draft. Sure the boys tried their hands at rowing with Dad mentoring them and at basketball with Mom coaching them but it was hockey that they loved. Luckily, Dougie ended up with the same junior team, the Niagara IceDogs, as his brother so he knew what to expect in his draft year as the Hamilton family had just been through it. Oh, one more thing about the Hamilton family, they are not only brilliant on the ice but also off the ice - there is an award given annually (Ivan Tennant Award) for the OHL’s Top Academic High School Student. In 2008-09, the winner was Freddie Hamilton and in 2009-10, the winner was and you guessed it, right??? Dougie Hamilton!!!

OK, let’s talk hockey now. Dougie Hamilton is one scary dude at 6’5” and is still adding height and weight plus he skates with a real powerful stride. Are you interested so far? Now let’s add a big time shot from the pointand an aggressive rusher. Hmm, sounding pretty good, don’t you agree? Now add a physical presence that is just starting to blossom along with that first passthat is so fresh that it still has the dew on it. OK, OK, you say, stop the titillation, what else is there? How about, the body of an athlete, the intelligence of a professor, the leadership of a winner and the work ethic of a family of high achievers and you are stating to get some semblance of why Dougie is so highly prized in this year’s draft.

With all those superlatives, there must some dirt, tell me the bad stuff, I can take it. Well, don’t worry there is no real bad stuff, only stuff that needs further experience and development. Some question Dougie’s defensive awareness but he only started playing defense in his early teens and defense is something you grow into not something you learn overnight. Some say he is prone to coughing up the puck from a persistent forecheck and he was in the playoffs against Mississauga. However, consider that PK Subban has also been called guilty of the same offense and yet he is good enough to play as an effective shutdown man against superstars Sidney Crosby and Alexander Ovechkin in both the regular season and the playoffs. So, yes, the persistent forecheck is an area that Dougie will have to address going ahead but it is not something that other stars have not had to deal with and have not been able to overcome.

The other question I know you want to ask is who does he compare to? The name Jay Bouwmeester keeps getting thrown about but I fully expect Dougie will be better than Jay Bouwmeester and is likely to have the same positive effect on a team that say Tyler Myers has on Buffalo.

As for draft day, Dougie is definitely top nine - where in the nine is an open question, McKeen’s has the top ranking at four but why stop there.